12 Days
by scarlettstones
Summary: Bella's a regular at her best friend's café, and as a result, Rosalie has gotten a matchmaker to match her with one of the other regulars of the café for Christmas as a gift to her regulars. Unfortunately, Bella's a little skeptical about it. Will the clues she get throughout the twelve days of who her match may be change her mind? AH, short story.
1. Day One

**A/N: Christmas is coming, so this is sort of a short story that will last for probably twelve chapters. If I can, I'll probably update everyday. Anyways, happy holidays, everyone!**

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><p><strong>Day One<strong>

It was a cold afternoon in an early December, and I was working at the New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia & Cornell. In my hands were a steaming warm cup of frappuccino, fueling me with the caffeine needed for my 13-hour shift and a patient's progress file. I examined the notes on it as I was sitting down beside the ceiling-to-floor window alone, enjoying the peaceful ambience for one minute—

"So do you have anyone to kiss under the mistletoe this Christmas?" Alice Brandon, a fellow colleague and close friend, asked suddenly.

She was a petite thing, with a pixie haircut and big brown eyes. She was just five feet tall and with her stilettos to give her more height, she was currently 5"4'. I was still taller than her at 5"10'.

"No, and I don't plan to," I replied, clipped.

"Oh come on!" She widened her eyes as she wailed, her arms waving around dramatically. "Oh my god, you're twenty-eight and still not dating or even married!"

"I think that twenty-eight is still plenty of time to enjoy my single status."

"But you are not enjoying it because you're taking shifts that are too long! Admit it, your sleeping pattern is messed up and this—" she stole my frappuccino from my hand, making me look up at her, "— isn't helping! Okay, you know what? Just... go back home and get some sleep. I'll take over all your patients for two days. You need the rest."

"No I don't." I glared.

"Continue glaring at me like that and you might actually live with bloodshot eyes for the rest of your life." She said firmly. "Give me that." She eyed the file.

"No."

"Give me that, now."

"No. This patient was the one who requested for me to be her doctor. She has a brain tumor, Alice. She needs me."

"I'm pretty sure that she'll understand if I say you are sick and I'm just taking over," she said, then gripped on the file. I held on tight to it, making her last few words strained.

She tugged on it again and it slipped from my fingers. I stood up to take it back, but she moved it further away from me and gave me a look, silently telling me to sit back down. I complied immediately, not meeting her eyes.

"You need to learn when to give in to your own body." She scolded me. "If you can't even take care of yourself, you shouldn't be taking care of others."

"Yeah, fine. Whatever." I stood up. "You being two months older than me doesn't mean that you're my mom."

She ignored what I said. "Go back home." She told me one last time before leaving me with nothing— not even my frappuccino.

I sighed and grabbed my bag, taking off my white coat and hanging it in my office. Still craving a little coffee, I headed down to my favorite café nearby my apartment— _Pages & Kisses_.

The bell above the door rang, announcing my presence. Nobody looked up, but the owner of the café, Rosalie Hale, did.

She was a blond Barbie doll, with natural curves and a statuesque figure. Her hair was long and her curls flowed to the end of her back with her shining impossibly-violet eyes. She still looked like a goddess with that black apron and skinny jeans. She used to be one of the interns at the hospital with me & Alice, but she had quit and decided to start a café.

"Bella!" She greeted with a beautiful smile that complimented her gorgeous, Miss-Universe-worthy face. "Same old?"

I shook my head. "This time, no. The one with the least caffeine, please."

"Alright. Great shift?" She asked, making small talk as she started making a drink for me.

"Alice told me to go home and get some rest." I sighed, pursing my lips.

"Bella, you know that you actually should," she said. "Look at you! Your eyebags are getting heavier by the minute."

"I'm not a beauty queen, or whatever." I muttered to myself. "You know how it is in the hospital, anyways. Crazy, crazy, crazy." I told her.

She presented me a paper cup. "Here. Same old mocha, but I replaced the sugar with some sweetener so that you wouldn't get that much caffeine in that pale body of yours."

"Well, thanks." I took it from her and sipped on it.

"Bella," she started, looking nervous.

"What?" I prompted.

"You know how you're one of my regulars, right?"

"Uh... yeah. Ever since you started this little place a few months ago." I nodded slowly.

"I actually have this whole thing for my regulars, and it's to kind of celebrate Christmas." She looked everywhere but at me. She then turned around and opened the door of one of the top cupboards, grabbing for something and closing the door again. She faced me again. "Here."

She held out a silver necklace with a ruby jewel heart dangling at the end.

"Rose... what's that for?" I pointed at it, cocking an eyebrow.

"Let me rephrase this again." She took a deep breath. "It's for our regulars who are _single_."

"Why exactly...?"

"Actually, for the past month I've been having a matchmaker come in to observe our regulars— like you— and your behaviors, personalities, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I try to provide information when I can, and so far she's matched you with someone who comes here daily too." She explained nervously.

I paused, my cup nearly tipping near my lips as I was about to take another sip. I placed my cup on the counter and pressed my lips into a straight line.

"Rosalie... why did you do that?" I tried to ask as pleasantly as I could.

"It's more like a little Christmas gift to my customers, including you." She told me. "Please, I know that you aren't pleased with this, but just give whoever it is a chance. Look; everyday when you come in for your daily coffee and pastries, I'll also be giving you an item that will give you a clue about who it is for twelve days until Christmas. That means that you'll probably want to stick a little longer to see who it is."

"Rosalie, you are trying to kill me here." I groaned. "I'm just going to—"

The bell above the entrance chimed again and our conversation was cut short as a bronze-haired Adonis came through the door. He was a tone darker than me but still considered pale to usual standards, with deep green eyes contrasting with the copper-colored hair. His gorgeous eyes were framed with long eyelashes and his cheekbones were impossibly high. His lips were soft, full and pink and he was tall, probably 6"2', and when he took off his brown woolen coat, I could see his muscles that were perfectly pumped and not too big and bulging. I couldn't help but take note of the professional camera hanging from his neck.

"Edward, welcome back!" Rosalie greeted, and I felt a tad jealous that she knew him by name. "Black coffee?"

"Sure," his velvet voice melted my insides and I quickly faced the front again, my face flushed. I grabbed my cup and distracted myself by drinking my mocha.

He came up to the counter and I moved aside so that he could wait for his black coffee. I hid my face with my mop of hair and I was glad he didn't really notice me.

"Rosalie?" He suddenly called.

"Yeah?" She replied as she made his drink.

"Have you seen my watch? I think I left it here last week." He asked. "It's a black Rolex watch."

She chuckled. "You lost it last week and now you ask me? Sorry, but I didn't see it lying around." She shrugged. "So, do you have any clue on who your match is?"

"Well, that necklace you gave isn't enough." He glanced around the place. "It could be anyone in here."

"Yeah, we've got some of our regulars here." Rosalie agreed. "That necklace you got is actually what every frequenter gets, so I guess it kind of separates the newcomers from them. The gem of the heart on the necklace is supposed to match your partner's, though."

"Do you know who it is?" He asked, getting a mug of black coffee from her.

She shook her head. "All the matchmaker gave me were jars for each person and inside are the clues, but like I said, if you need the second clue, you'll have to come back like you always do." She smiled. "She didn't even give me a list of who's matched with who."

He returned to her a smile, but not just any teeth-flashing smile; it was a crooked one, making him, if not, a lot more attractive. "That's a pity, then." He told her.

"I don't know who your match might be, but she'll probably be lucky to have you. Have a nice day!" She smiled at him again, then her attention suddenly went back to me. "Okay, so where was I with you again? Sorry." She apologized.

"Uh... I still don't feel like taking up on this... thing you're having."

"Oh, come on!" She pleaded. "Even if it won't work, I guarantee that you'll still have fun guessing."

I sighed. "Give me that necklace."

She grinned. "I promise, you won't regret it."

"I better not," I retorted. She took the necklace out of the front pocket of her dark apron and placed it in my hand. The metallic item felt cool in my hands as I closed my fist around it and slipped it into my dress's pocket.

"You know, a necklace is supposed to be worn." She told me.

"I'm not going to allow whoever my match is find out that I'm supposed to be his life partner." I replied as I turned to the door, lifting my cup up. "See you."


	2. Day Two

**A/N: So it's a short chapter, but I promise that tomorrow's will be longer. :)**

**Oh, and guys, today's Taylor Swift's birthday. Uh, if you don't really like her, you can just probably ignore the message. My readers who follow my stories probably know that all I talk about is her since I'm her fan so... HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY TAYLOR ALISON SWIFT. ILYSM AHHHHHHHHHH.**

**xx**

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><p><strong>Day Two<strong>

I spent my time at home dangling the ruby heart from its necklace chains from my hands as I stared at it, wondering who had its twin right now.

"Mow," I heard my cat Wints say as he looked up at me, his furry white coat sticking out at every area of his body.

"Come on, Wints." I patted my lap and he leaped up, curling up and taking a nap on me.

I sighed, keeping it in my jewelry box for safekeeping and turned to my laptop for reruns of Grey's Anatomy for a distraction. Oh, the irony. Too bad that when it came to the hot and saucy love scenes, I found myself throwing buttered-up popcorn at the screen. If only I was buttered up just like how my tasty little snack was.

"_Boo_!" I'd shout at the screen. "_Boo_!"

Wints jumper from my lap as I kept fidgeting in my chair and found somewhere else to sleep.

After watching what was probably the fifth time I had seen Meredith & McDreamy make out, I turned my laptop off and headed down to Kisses & Pages for my fixture of caffeine and my next clue.

"Hey Bells," Rose greeted. "Did you come for your next clue?"

"No," I lied with a straight face. "I'm craving for some hot chocolate."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll get that for you, with three small marshmallows— how about that?"

I didn't reply as she started on my drink already. I eyed the top glass cupboard behind the counter with the jars of the matched couples, wondering what would be my next clue. Just as Rosalie came back with a plain white mug of hot chocolate, she plopped three snow-white marshmallows the size of my fingernail onto the surface of it.

"There you go," she said. "One steaming hot chocolate with marshmallows."

I grabbed one of the small pastry forks and impaled all three marshmallows, drowning them into the hot liquid.

"Hey!" She chided. "The marshmallows never did anything to you!"

"Or did they?" I muttered, then pulled out the fork from the hot chocolate. There was nothing left of the marshmallows on it. "There, all drowned and melted. Dead and non-existent, like I like them to be."

She rolled her eyes. "You could have just told me you didn't want them in your drink. I wonder how the guy the matchmaker matched you with is going to cope with your pessimistic personality. Speaking of that, you're still going to get another clue." She reminded, opening the glass cupboard and took out a large jar with my full name on it.

She reached in for something and produced a keychain of some sort from it. Handing it over to me, she frowned. "Well, looks like you've got a clue for where your match is originally from."

It was a keychain with the words _CHICAGO_ written in bold, with its flashing lights highlighting the name of the city. The other surface had a picture of the Ferris wheel that had put the city on the international map. Wrapped around the metal chain was a tape with black permanent marker written on it;_ I.S., 2nd DAY._

"So who am I supposed to look for?" I asked. "Someone who has a Chicago accent? What if that someone was born in Chicago, but not raised there?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes once again at me. "Always complicating things, aren't you?"

I smirked. "You know me so well."

I took out the keys to my apartment and attached the keychain to the loop keeping my keys together before sitting at one corner to enjoy the view of the crowded street.

I plugged in my iPod into the music adapter attached to the wall behind me and it started playing my music until two songs later, it played a song that I knew I never had in my playlist.

Diana Ross started crooning about lovers during Christmas and I heard a giggle break out from behind the counter of the café.

"Rosalie!" I shouted. "Oh my god, turn that off right now!"

"It's my café, sweets. Christmas is coming and I have to make sure its ready for the holiday season." Rosalie smiled from the counter.

I groaned and rolled my eyes, folding my arms as I sunk down my chair. I reached for a book that was at the bookcase next to me and started reading, keeping me distracted from the horrible slow Christmas songs that were playing over my head.


	3. Day Three

**A/N: Oh hello. Again. It's Day Three! Ready to see what next clue Bella's gonna get?**

**xx**

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><p><strong>Day Three<strong>

"First day back from work," Alice said when she saw me. "How was your two-day break?"

"Peaceful. And boring." I replied. "Can I please have my patients back?"

She smirked, handing me back all of the files in her hands. "Well, that patient you said with the brain tumor—"

"Irina."

"Yeah, her." She raised her eyebrows. "She's a fussy thing, isn't she?"

I rolled my eyes. "Hey, that's a patient you're talking about. No matter their personality, we still need to save them."

"How's Rosalie?" She suddenly asked. "I mean, I haven't really seen her since Thanksgiving."

"And that is when we need a reunion, because she hasn't seen you and neither have you seen her. Well, why don't you just come with me to her café later on?" I asked.

"Well, I have a date," she told me, "so I can't make it."

"Jasper? Good on you. After I go to the café, I'm going to work for ten hours straight." I replied.

"Bella," she warned.

I raised my hands up. "I'll go home after that!"

"Good. Now go back to work." She patted my shoulder, smiling before she left me to go to one of my patient's wards.

"Makenna, how are you feeling today?" I asked as I stood beside my elderly patient. She had just gotten into a very bad accident that had left some of her bones broken. The surgeons that did a surgery on her a few days ago nearly lost her, and I was glad she was still around.

She smiled a small smile. "Very well, Dr. Swan. How are _you_? Dr. Brandon said you weren't feeling well."

I shrugged. "I feel better now. I just didn't have as much rest as I needed."

"Have you done your Christmas shopping?"

I chuckled under my breath. "I did it the day after Thanksgiving."

"Oh yes," she nodded. "You're an early bird, aren't you?"

"I guess I am, but usually it's to get things done and over." I replied.

"So you've got everything for everyone, then? Including your family?" She said.

I laughed, nodding. "Yes, Makenna. My mother, father and my stepfather, included."

"Your husband? Children?"

I paused, then looked at her from her file. "I don't have a husband or children."

"Oh, pardon me. I just expected you to, since you look like you should be married by now."

I allowed that to slide, knowing that she was old-fashioned. "Well, I'm not."

"You'll find the right man for you," she held my hand in hers and patted it.

I thought of my match that I had yet to know or meet. "Yeah," I agreed for the first time ever. "I most probably will."

xx

"What do you have for me today?" I asked when I entered the café.

Rosalie raised her eyebrows. "Well, I've never seen you so demanding for something other than the time you basically manipulated that poor intern to do anything you needed to do."

I shrugged. "Might as well use his attraction towards me to get anything I want."

She shook her head. "Your match is definitely going to have a hard time with you when you're not even going to be attracted to him."

I smirked. "Who says I won't be attracted to him?"

She rolled her eyes, turning to the glass cupboard to take my jar. "Okay, I'll give you that. Here's your third clue."

She handed me a bulky black Rolex watch obviously meant for men with my initials and the day it was supposed to be given on written on a tape, and it was big in my small hands. It weighed quite a bit too.

"What?" I frowned. "A watch?"

"I don't know, actually." She shrugged. "It probably belongs to the guy? We'll never know."

"Well, thanks." I said. "Oh god, it's dark outside." I glanced out of the wide windows. "What time is it?"

"You have a watch in your hands." Rosalie snorted. "I have customers to attend to. Move aside, Bella."

I complied and had a smile on my face as I looked down at the time on the watch. Nine thirty-eight at night.

"Alright, I gotta get back to the hospital." I told her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Here." She gave me a cup of coffee and smiled. "You'll need it."

"Thanks. Bye!" I said, waving before walking out of the door.


	4. Day Four

**A/N: DAYYYYYY FOURRRR. What's the next clue? I don't know either. **

**xx**

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><p><strong>Day Four<strong>

Without thinking about it, I took out the black Rolex watch that could possibly be my match's one and checked the time as I waited for my shift to end. I just wanted to grab another item of my match's from _Kisses & Pages_ before I'd head home to get some rest and possibly try to put my clues together.

Once it was six in the morning, I took off and went to my desired destination— the café. When I arrived there, Rosalie was just flipping the sign of the door of the café.

She gave me a look of incredulity. "Seems like you're my first customer. Did you really just come from the hospital right away?" She glanced around the street that was lightening as the sunrise before opening the door for me.

"Yeah, I guess I did." I replied. "I just wanted to hang out for an hour or so and then go back home."

"Alright." She said. "Anyways, what do you want? Your regular or...?"

"Regular's fine." I told her as she returned back to the counter. "What's there for today?"

"I have a feeling you're not talking about the specials." She narrowed her eyes into slits as she looked at me.

"Maybe I'm not."

"Hmm," She grinned at me. "Seems like someone can't wait to know who their soulmate is!"

"Oh, shut up," I snapped. "I'm just having fun guessing who it is."

"You know, maybe that Rolex was something your match left around here or something." She told me.

I paused. "Wait a minute, didn't a guy come in a few days ago asking if you saw his black Rolex?"

She gasped. "Oh my god. I do remember that, but I don't remember who! Okay, you know what? While you sit here, you can observe all my regulars that come in for their daily coffee. One of them is surely the owner of that Rolex."

"So... then what?" I asked.

"Don't give it back to him yet, but probably on the last day when you get your last item then you'll really know it's him or not."

"You're the one who hands out the items. Have you seen any of the items that are familiar to you? I mean, you're one of my close friends, so surely you must recognize the things that I've probably left here that you gave to my match."

"Yeah... There's this guy who keeps getting things that are related to you." She recalled.

"Who's he?"

She opened her mouth, but then smirked. "I can't tell you. I'm not supposed to, until Christmas when you really don't know who it is."

I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Okay, just one thing— is he hot?"

"Well, he's actually one of the hottest regulars I've ever had. He looks like a Calvin Klein underwear model, I swear." Rosalie said.

"Hey," I snapped my fingers in front of her face. "You've got Emmett, for god's sake. That guy's mine, okay?"

"Wow, being so possessive over a guy you haven't met or known. That's really creepy."

"And here comes another customer." I sighed when I heard the entrance bell chime. I went over to a table nearby and sat there, looking at everyone who came in. Soon, there was a long line and Rosalie's other baristas came in too.

I watched as there were other people collecting some items from the other jars for the glass cupboard. They gave Rosalie a smile as they went off with their new things. So far, I didn't see anyone receiving anything that originally belonged to me.

After rush hour was over, I just went up to Rosalie when she wasn't busy.

"Are there anymore regulars coming in?" I asked.

"Well, there is one more, and he hasn't come in yet." She replied. "He should be in at any minute now. He always comes after rush hour."

My cellphone started buzzing in my pockets.

"Oh no, it's my neighbor." I read through the text message. "He says that Wints just showed up at his door bleeding badly. I have to go now."

"Wait," she said. "You haven't collected your item for today."

She handed me a photograph of a female model in front of a building.

I frowned. "I don't understand the picture."

"It's for you to break it down. Now go; Wints needs you." She shooed and I ran to my apartment building, knocking on my neighbor's door.

The door opened. "Mr. Hemsway?" I panted. "Where's Wints?"

"Miss Swan, the cat's just inside." The elderly man moved aside for me to enter and I found Wints sitting on the couch, licking himself.

"Wints!" I sighed, carrying him to examine him closer. I took a sniff of his fur and paused. "Wints, did you get into the condiments' cupboard again?" I asked him even though I knew he wouldn't answer because he couldn't. I thanked Mr. Hemsway before going into my apartment to find the bottle of ketchup left open with its contents spilling out.

"_Wints_!" I groaned. He jumped from my arms and ran away. I quickly grab a cloth and rinsed it to clean up the mess. "Do you always have to make it hard for me to live?" I asked.

He meow'd back in response.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." I waved him off. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but if he could talk, he'd make up some lame excuse. "Come here, Wints." I patted my lap as I laid down on my couch. He messaged my stomach while purring, trying to make up for the mess he had made earlier.

I scratched the back of his ear. "I love you too." I replied to his purring and sighed.

I was either going to be single, running for long shifts all my life with only Wints to come home to or have a boyfriend or husband to give me flowers in the hospital even though I'm just working and kids to call me 'Mom' when I get home. Just four days ago, I wouldn't even be thinking about that. I closed my eyes, trying to let some sleep take over me.


	5. Day Five

**A/N: Oops. I didn't ****update for the past few days, did I? Sorry.**

**I got a review saying that this story was a little too predictable, but I guess that's why I made it. It's just a very simple story with lots of fluff to get ready for Christmas. Oh, and to that reviewer, thank you for loving T-Swizzle (LOL that was her supposed rapper name like a few years ago with T-Pain for the Thug Song). I love her a lot, which probably sounds unbelievable because I may sound rational on paper but I'm just trying not to freak out.**

**xx**

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><p><strong>Day Five<strong>

I took out every single item from over the days— the ruby necklace, the Chicago keychain, the Rolex & the photograph and wrote down on a notebook about each item. My match has the same necklace as mine, and he was probably from Chicago before he came to New York. The Rolex probably belonged to him and I didn't know what the photograph symbolized.

I took a good look at it— there was a girl standing in front of a street, wearing sunglasses, a designer dress and high heels to match. I then looked at the background with all the parked cars in front of the building across the street.

The Yancey Richardson Gallery.

I immediately picked up all the items and grabbed my coat, since at least that was a clue that could bring me to my very match.

xx

I got out of the cab that brought me to the gallery and I looked through the doors of the place. The gallery was open, and I just entered it. The place was actually dark but it had a kind of orangey light to highlight each photograph's best feature. I looked around and there wasn't really anyone around here since everyone was obviously back in their offices, so I was alone.

At the other end of the gallery was a familiar face, with recognizable dimples and blue eyes as he looked intently at one of the photos.

"Emmett?" I frowned. "Is that you?"

He looked at me and his eyes lit up. "Bella!" He came over and gave me a big hug. "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" I said in disbelief.

He had let me go. "I'm the gallery's owner." He responded.

My jaw dropped.

He chuckled. "Rosalie didn't say anything much about me after she introduced me to everyone, did she?"

"N–no," I shook my head, still trying to process this new information. "Actually, I came because of this," I showed him the picture.

He looked at it and then raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I've actually got that picture somewhere around here. It's on display. It was pretty nice of him to take a photo of the gallery from outside."

"Who?" I froze.

"The photographer of this photo is Edward Cullen. His pictures are a hit around the city. Pretty goodlooking chap too." He said.

"Wait, is he one of the regulars at Rosalie's café?"

"Yeah," he gave me a stunned look. "Wait, are you his match in the café? Rose told me about this whole thing that she had planned for her regulars to count down the days to Christmas and all... She said something about matching them up with professional help... You're Edward Cullen's match?"

"I guess so. I mean, thank goodness I came here and that you own this place or I will never know." I laughed. "Is he coming around soon?"

"I have a meeting with him here at three about putting his new collection of pictures in my other gallery across town." Emmett replied.

I took out the black Rolex from my bag and checked the time. "It's two forty-five now. You don't mind if I just... wait a little, don't you?"

"No, I don't..." He trailed off as he stared at the watch. "Is that Ed—"

"Yeah, I think it is." I said. "Rosalie gave it to me two days ago as a clue, I think."

"He said something about losing it last week." He told me.

"He left it at the café and it became a clue for me. When I see him, I'll eventually give it to him." I said.

My pager went off in my pockets.

"Oh shucks," I muttered as I checked it. "I have to go now. I'm so sorry!" I cried. "I'll see you soon. There's just something with one of my patients—"

"Yeah, sure. Just go. That's okay." Emmett said. "Bye!"

I flagged for a taxi and as I entered, the man I saw in the café on the first day I got my necklace entered the gallery in a coat and scarf with his nose and cheeks flushed. I pursed my lips. I had an emergency to attend to, so I couldn't meet him now.

The taxi drove away after he entered the gallery.


	6. Day Ten

**A/N: It's after Christmas****. And this story is near its completion. Bear with me here! Anyways, I h****oped you guys had a nice Christmas and today's New Year's Eve! Eek. 2015, I hope it'd be a better year.**

**xx**

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><p><strong>Day Ten<strong>

"Bella?" Rosalie said out loud, knocking on my door loudly. "Are you in there?"

I looked up from Wints who walked to the door and stared at me from there. "Mow."

I sighed, standing up from my couch and opening the door.

"Oh my god, Bella," Rosalie widened her eyes and hugged me. "What happened to you?"

I knew what she was referring to; my swollen, red & wet eyes, pale face and messed-up hair. I didn't want to go into why I looked like this any further, but her eyes demanded I do so when she pulled away.

"Alice told me to take some days off." I shrugged.

"I know she did— she told me so, but she didn't tell me why. Now that you look like that, it must be serious." She entered my apartment and took a seat. She placed a cup of steaming hot chocolate on the table. "I brought this for you. There's no marshmallows."

"Well, thanks." I managed a smile as I took a seat beside her. Wints climbed up and sat on my lap to sleep.

"Spit it out."

"I had this elderly patient who I didn't know well, but we just had this connection, you know. Her name was Makenna, and I was actually at Emmett's gallery when I had a page saying that there was an emergency with her—"

"Oh no." Rosalie said. "You don't need to say it. Bella, I'm so sorry about your patient's loss, but you know how unprofessional it is if you grow so attached to your patients."

"I just... Was there anything else I couldn't have done? I mean, I was too late!" I cried. "If I wasn't so involved with your whole match-making thing, she could have been saved."

Rosalie pursed her lips. "Bella, certain people can't be saved. It's fate, you know."

I shook my head, hugging my legs as I hid my face in the crook. "I'm not going to do anything about my love life if it costs an innocent life."

She scoffed. "You make it sound like we're in _Romeo & Juliet_. Anyways, I wanted to give the things you were supposed to claim over the few days that you didn't come, including today's."

She placed a small box on the table from her bag.

"Anyways, I have to go back to the café again. I'll see you around, honey." She grabbed her bag and hugged me before she left the door. "Bye."

She closed the door behind her and Wints jumped on the couch, sitting beside me as he watched me pick up the box.

I opened it, and found five items in the box— a Stanford University pin, a copy of _National Geographic_ Magazine, a family ring, a card colored in red and another in green.

I could immediately relate the colored cards to Edward Cullen— he was a redhead, and his eyes were green. As for the Stanford pin, he probably went there for college. The family ring obviously represented his family, but I couldn't quickly think of why a copy of the _National Geographic_ Magazine was given to me.

The most obvious assumption would be that his photographs were featured inside, but I found otherwise.

He contributed a story to the magazine and there were even his own photographs. I then decided that I would read it later, when I would get the chance.

"Come on, Wints," I sighed. "Time to wrap some Christmas presents."

He looked at me and just stared.

"Okay, fine. I'll do it myself." I rolled my eyes and pushed myself off the couch.

* * *

><p>I couldn't believe I was shopping at Neiman Marcus.<p>

I wasn't that kind of girl who usually shopped since I was either working at the hospital or at home watching _Netfilx_, but since I had the chance, I decided to pick some things up for myself.

In the end, I found myself a Zuhair Murad gown, with its sheer tulle with beaded lace embroidery, Bateau neckline and long sleeves. It was form fitting from my upper body through hips and top of thigh and the godet skirt flares to the floor that ended with a short train.

I didn't know why I was getting a gown, but it was pretty. I was sure that somehow, I was going to wear this somewhere sooner or later. I got a pair of Jimmy Choo lace heels and paid easily with my debit card; the perks of being a doctor was obviously the salary.

As I got out of the store, someone bumped into me, making me fall flat on the floor on my bum. I winced.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," a familiar voice said. I looked up to find Edward Cullen standing in front of me, with a professional camera hung around his neck. He held his hand out for me and I took it. He pulled me up and I steadied myself.

"No, it's okay," I replied. "Thank you."

"You look familiar." He remarked, his green eyes studying me as he looked at the shopping bags and my hair. "Have we met before?"

I wasn't sure about meeting your match before the twelfth day, so I faked a smile. "No, I don't think so." I quickly said. "I really need to go now. Bye."

I immediately walked away and he didn't stop me.


	7. Day Eleven

**A/N: Oops. So sorry for not updating for so long. But now, with the next chapter being the final one, you don't really have to wait any longer. **

**xx**

* * *

><p><strong>Day Eleven<strong>

"This has got to be the most number of times you've taken an off-day in a month," Alice commented as we were walking along the hospital, not having any appointments or meetings to attend. "I mean, you've got to keep it up. This may sound like a bad thing, but you really suck at relaxing. Go take another break next month or something."

"I've been taking so many breaks because there were a lot of things happening, okay? I mean, with everything going on, I'd have to say that everything shouldn't have happened all in a month. Only makes my stress levels go haywire." I groaned. "Anyways, you're going for Rosalie's Christmas party tomorrow night, right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." She replied. "It's also the night when you get to finally meet your match!" She squealed.

"Oh, come on. Please don't tell me Rosalie told you about the whole match-making thing." I rolled my eyes in exasperation.

"We're all best friends!" She reminded. "We tell each other everything— except for the fact that you didn't tell me about Rosalie's whole scheme yourself."

I waved her off. "It's something you didn't need to know."

She scoffed. "Yeah, as if a best friend doesn't have to know your current state in your love life. You are too lonely, and the only companion you have is Wints. The next thing you know is that you'll get another cat and another and soon, you'll be a lonely cat lady for the rest of your life."

I shrugged. "I honestly don't mind that. Wints will be my constant companion. And if he's gone, I'll get two more cats since nothing can ever really replace Wints. Then I'll get five more when those two pass on. See, I have my whole life planned out."

"Oh, wow." She sarcastically said, raising her eyebrows. "I have a feeling that I should be impressed."

"I can live without a man, but I can't live without Netflix and GIFs of cats." I told her, flexing my arm muscles in front of her. "The beauty of not getting laid for years; you grow back your hymen and forget about sex."

"Bella, it's physically impossible to grow back your hymen. Okay, you know what, get a coffee and just… get ready for your shift." Alice sighed, exasperated as she walked away from me.

I smirked and went down to _Kisses & Pages _for my usual mocha, and I was greeted with a familiar face there, who wasn't Rosalie.

"Good morning, Dr. Swan," Leah, one of the junior baristas, smiled as she handed me my drink.

"Where's Rosalie?" I asked.

"She decided to go out to prepare for tomorrow's Christmas party right here in the cafe." She replied. "For now, I'm giving the clues today until she comes back."

I chuckled, picturing her at Macy's with her unused $2000 gift card that I had given her on Thanksgiving. She surely was going to use it up by tonight, and I could definitely imagine that.

"Oh, and one more thing." Leah suddenly said out of the blue and reached for the top cupboard to retrieve my clue for today. The fact that it was going to be my second last clue sent adrenaline coursing through my veins. "Here it is."

She opened her palm towards me and revealed a piece of paper.

I stared. "What's that about?"

Leah shrugged, honestly not knowing what was inside. "But that's what every regular has been getting today. Just a piece of paper."

I snatched it from her hand and unwrapped it, reading the handwriting written on it;

_This may not be a clue, but this is as important as one._

_Look your best for the Christmas party tomorrow. The most important thing is to feel confident in your outfit to shine at your greatest. _

_I will be there tomorrow. I will finally meet with you face-to-face, and I'd love to see if I have made more than one couple happy with who they have been paired up with._

_Have a great Christmas Eve, and a lovely holiday._

_Maggie Kramson_

My mouth was opened, and I didn't know what else to say. I frowned at the note, then looked at Leah. She was busy serving other customers, and so something popped up in my mind the moment I had finished reading the note.

Quickly, I dashed out of _Kisses & Pages_, imagining myself on what could be the most perfect night of my life happening tomorrow.


	8. Day Twelve

**A/N: IT'S THE VERY LAST CHAPTER! YAY. Ohkay, so not really a 'yay' for a lot of you, but hope you like it. It's muc longer than the usual chapters since it's the last one.**

**Maybe I'll write another Christmas story this December. I'm not sure. Anyways, enjoy. And stay in the Christmas spirit for as long a you can even when it's after Christmas. Trust me, it helps with your life.**

**xx**

* * *

><p><strong>Day Twelve (the last day)<strong>

I looked at my calendar for the rest of the month, sighing. Unwillingly, I picked up my landline and I could feel Wints staring at me from behind.

I slowly dialed in the numbers I needed to call and the patterned beeps that I was used to turned into dread for me. Someone picked it up and I took a deep breath.

"New York Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia & Cornell. How may I help you?" Seth, one of the fellow interns of the latest badge picked up.

"Seth," I said in a sharp, professional tone. "Could you please find another doctor to take over my place for a few days?"

"Why's that, Dr. Swan?" He asked, obviously curious.

"I'm taking a well-deserved break. Nothing else for you to know." I told him.

"Well, I'll get Dr. Princhett to do that. Is that fine with you, Doctor?"

"Good enough Seth. Happy holidays," I told him, smiling.

"Happy holidays to you too, Dr. Swan." He told me before hanging up.

Wints jumped on the couch, sitting beside me as he stared at the TV that was showing a few commercials while waiting for the annual Christmas movie marathon to continue playing. I patted his tiny back softly and scratched the back of his ears before going to my bedroom to start preparing for tonight.

I went on to take a long time in the bathroom, scrubbing, plucking and buffing every inch of my skin. I washed my hair a little and stepped out of the bathroom in my fluffy bathrobe. Rolling on my favorite MAC Russian Red lipstick across my lips, I tried to keep my makeup simple, but I just couldn't resist the urge of adding smokey eyeshadow to my look. I then blow-dried my hair, adding some serum and spritzing some hairspray on it. I braided my hair loosely to create waves that were going to last the whole night before letting my hair free from the hair tie.

I reached for the untouched Neiman Marcus shopping bag from a few days ago and pulled out the Zuhair Murad dress that I bought, along with the Jimmy Choo heels.

I looked through the little box full of the clues from the last few days, and I hadn't gotten my last clue. Picking up the necklace that I got from the first day, I fastened it around my neck.

I quickly wore my dress & shoes on and wore a woolen Burberry coat over the dress. I checked the time. I was going to reach there a little later, but that was alright. The café was only a few blocks away.

I picked up the Christmas presents that I had bought before Thanksgiving for my friends and was about to leave my apartment building until I almost forgot about Wints, who meow'd softly behind me.

I sighed, nearly forgetting to give him his dinner. I took a can of tuna and placed it in front of him, along with a catnip plant beside it. "Merry Christmas, Wints." I said before closing my door behind me.

* * *

><p>The familiar bells that would chime whenever a visitor came in to the café were replaced with electronic sensors that would play a Christmas jingle for five seconds, and I found that the place looked much different from before.<p>

Christmas lights hung from the ceiling, looking like fireflies in the dim café that contrasted with the old red brick walls. A large Christmas tree was placed at the corner, and I couldn't help but realize there was tree sap oozing out of it a little. The chairs and tables were rearranged and moved to the sides. People were already there, and I could recognize some who always got their coffee from here.

"Bella!" Rosalie called from a table.

I grinned when I saw Alice, Rosalie, Emmett & Jasper (Alice's new boyfriend) sitting there, with bottles of beer in their hands.

"Hey guys," I greeted with a smile as I shrugged off my coat.

Alice wolf-whistled, staring at my dress. "For yourself or for your future husband?"

"I dressed up for myself," I rolled my eyes. "And you can't immediately presume that the guy I've been matched with will be my husband."

"You're wearing the necklace." Rosalie noted before she took a swig of her beer.

I touched the ruby heart of the necklace absentmindedly and frowned. "Yeah, I am. Am I overdressed?"

She shook her head. "Nope, but that dress looks like it should be on the red carpet for Oscars, though."

"Hello Dr. Swan," I heard Leah greet from behind me and I turned. She was wearing a simple black dress and she held a Polaroid camera in her hands. "Say cheese."

I heard the click of the camera and the sound of the inner mechanic whirring inside. A photo came out and Leah smiled. "Sorry if that was unexpected. I was just taking picture of everyone here at the party."

"That's okay," I said. "At least I know I look good in it."

"Oh Bella, always being so shallow," Alice rolled her eyes as Leah walked away from us to take pictures of others.

"_Excusez-moi_, but I'm not shallow." I scrutinized her playfully.

Jasper left the table for a second, coming back with a new bottle of beer. He passed it to me and I smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem. Have you gotten any idea on who your match might be?"

I looked up at everyone at the table and Emmett's twinkling eyes caught mine. I knew that he knew, and he was obviously not telling anyone.

"Actually, I do." I answered, making Alice, Jasper & Rosalie lean in closer.

"Who?" Rosalie pressed.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not saying anything. I thought you'd know."

Rosalie groaned, her fingers digging into her hair. "Okay, fine. I don't know. I don't remember who lost their Rolex here, okay?"

"Ooh, Oblivious Rosalie. Not knowing who lost what in her own café?" I tutted. "Seems like you don't really know your customers well enough."

She made a sour face and changed the subject. "I'm giving out the twelfth clue later when everyone's arrived. It's actually going to be more like an answer."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

A Christmas jingle played suddenly, making my head snap up.

Edward Cullen stepped into _Kisses & Pages_ in a business suit, that was obviously not his everyday attire. His eyes wandered around the area and before they could meet mine, I looked back at my beer and fiddled with my cellphone a bit.

"Emmett, hey man," he said behind me as he did a friendly handshake with Emmett who sat in front of me. I realized that Rosalie was nowhere to be found, missing from her seat beside me. I saw Jasper & Alice dancing along with the some other people in the middle of the café and realized that I was all alone.

"Edward, so good to see you," Emmett replied, glancing at me.

"What are you doing here?" Edward asked.

"My girlfriend owns this place. I'm here for the Christmas party, and I think you're here for it too." Emmett responded.

Edward chuckled. "Rosalie's your girlfriend? Good on you. I just came from this other Christmas party that my parents organized. I left a little earlier to be here."

"Alright, have fun." Emmett told him and Edward left the table, making me heave a sigh of relief silently.

Emmett took a sip of his beer and grinned at me. "You think I didn't see what was going on there?"

"Emmett, I was just a little nervous. I mean, maybe he'd actually be there in my future, and it kind of scares the hell out of me." I admitted.

"He's your Christmas present from someone somewhere who knows that you deserve him by your side, Bella. It's either you accept the gift into your life or go back to a life full of busy schedules and snarky remarks." He told me. "And overall, he is actually a really great guy. The good looks are also just a bonus, and a lot of people would kill for that sort of perfect person."

"Like you?" I teased.

"Naw, I got my Rose. She's everything I've ever wanted." He replied back, his dimples showing.

"I didn't realize you were that deep with your words. Damn, why didn't I find you first as a friend?" I laughed. "Where did Rose go?"

"She's preparing the twelfth clue that she's going to give out soon. And then you can meet with Prince Charming and be reassured that your future is in safe hands." Emmett said.

"Why after the twelfth clue must I then finally go talk to him for the first time?" I asked.

"You wanna make a bet then?" He asked. "If you can start chatting him up before the twelfth clue is given out, you win and I have to go for a guy's night with Edward every Saturday. If I win, our guy's night will be shifted to a Friday."

"What's with all the Friday's and Saturday's?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"If I go for a guy's night on Saturday's, that means I have to rearrange my schedule all over again just for guy's night to fit into it." He told me. "It's a very stressful process."

I shrugged. "Maybe it'll all be worth it. I'm betting for my pride, Emmett. It's too easy of a challenge for me."

"I'm betting for my pride and my schedule." He reminded, tipping an invisible hat from his head towards me.

I left my seat and grabbed my clutch with me, heading towards the direction Edward Cullen was at as he stared out of the floor-to-ceiling window of the café. My palms started sweating as my heart thumped loudly in my ears.

I didn't know how to introduce myself. I had a million thoughts on how I was going to do that as I got closer and closer to him. Soon, I just stopped breathing altogether as I stood behind him.

"I have your missing Rolex," I blurted out.

He turned around and looked at me. My breath hitched as I realized how close we were approximately.

His eyes studied my face and my whole body, and I felt a little squirmish under his gaze. They finally stared at my chest, where the ruby heart was lying against.

"You," he breathed. "Oh my god, I found you. You were the one at Neiman Marcus, weren't you? And you were there... on the very first day the clues were being handed out."

My eyes widened. He noticed me on that first day?

"You're wearing the exact same necklace as the one I got as a first clue," he said, pulling out something from his pants pockets.

The long-lost twin of the necklace I received on the first day of the whole little plan was right in front of my eyes as he held it up to me.

I didn't realize he was waiting for an answer until he raised an eyebrow at me. I quickly scrambled to my clutch, flustered about finally meeting him.

I took out the Rolex and his family ring. "I believe this is yours," I murmured as I lifted Edward's hand, suddenly feeling that painless electricity flowing through my veins the moment our skin touched. I tried to ignore it as I was putting the watch on for him. I slotted the family ring with his family crest carved into the metal through his middle finger.

He chuckled a bit and I looked up into his green eyes for the first time. They were like the colors of forests & emeralds, and I wanted to just stay like that; forever looking into his eyes seemed like a pretty good thing to do to kill time.

"I'm Edward. Cullen." He held out his hand, anticipating a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, Edward Cullen." I murmured under my breath. "I'm Isabella Swan, but you can call me Bella."

I took his hand and the same harmless electric current ran through my body again.

"Bella," he tested it out and my name just flowed from the tip of his tongue so naturally that it almost made me believe we'd known each other for years now.

"I saw your photographs," I told him, letting go of his hand unwillingly after shaking it. "At the Yancey Richardson Gallery. I'm friends with Emmett and Rosalie's my best friend which is why I'm a regular here."

"What a small world," he smiled a crooked smile that made me weak to my knees. I grabbed at the table right next to me for support and managed to smile back. "Emmett's my business partner. We're becoming friends now, and I didn't know you're best friends with Rosalie. She makes the best coffee."

"She does," I agreed. "I always order a mocha every morning. If I'm sick and at home, she'd bring it up to me herself."

"I wish I had that kind of treatment, but I'm not friends with the owner of the café anyways, so I just get someone to fetch my black coffee." He told me.

"Anyways, uhm," I wasn't sure what else to say. "Rosalie & I met in med school and interned at the same hospital until she dropped out to start this café since she just simply loved the idea of owning one."

"You're a doctor?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said. "You know, that university hospital at Columbia & Cornell?"

"The Presbyterian Hospital, yes." He nodded, smiling. "I went there yesterday because one of my clues was a picture of the hospital."

"I'm really curious as to what kind of clues you've got about me." I laughed. "I hope it's nothing embarrassing."

"I got a keychain from some town in Washington?"

I nodded. "I grew up in Forks, Washington. It's just a small, rainy town where nothing really changes."

"I grew up in Chicago—"

The thumps from a microphone interrupted Edward and our heads snapped up. I saw Rosalie on the makeshift stage, a microphone in her hand as she was testing it out, counting the first three numbers into the speaker softly before clearing her throat and smiling.

"I'm pretty sure that some of you have figured out who you've been matched with, and the rest may still not know, so here's your last clue; Polaroid pictures." She waved one in her hand. "If you guys haven't realized, throughout the whole night, my dear Leah went around taking pictures of everyone. These pictures are basically your answers and assurances that your match is really your match. The person helping to give these out is the lady who matched you all in the first place— Maggie Kramson. I won't be surprised if she gives out some advice as well. Have a great night everyone, and Merry Christmas."

Rosalie got off the stage, and we were about to continue our conversation when a lady who looked to be about my age approached us. She had red curls and a youthful smile as she observed us intently.

"I see you've found each other," she commented. "I'm Maggie."

"I don't exactly think we need to introduce ourselves to you," I joked.

She laughed a tinkling laugh. "You don't need to. So here are your pictures." She passed them to us and I held a Polaroid of Edward in his suit now. I grinned at how he looked a little surprised to be in front of the camera, since he was probably so used to being behind it.

"You look beautiful in this one," Edward said, making me look at him. He was staring at my photo, and I had to agree that this was one of the best pictures I had been in.

"Well, you look pretty dashing in this one too." I giggled, showing him my photo of him.

"Important dates and times are important to you both, so remember this date for not only being Christmas, but for really meeting each other for the first time. This won't be something you'd ever forget." Maggie suddenly said to us.

"I know I won't," Edward breathed and I found him gazing down at me. I didn't think I'd forget that date as well.

"Good," Maggie said before leaving to pass out more Polaroids.

"Woo, lovebirds!" Emmett whooped from the table. I looked at the table and found that everyone was back there. "You guys have probably been talking for half an hour and you didn't realize that you've been standing under the mistletoe?"

I looked up at the high ceiling and found that three were actually five mistletoes attached to it, and one just so happened to be directly above us.

"Oh my god," I groaned silently and Edward chuckled.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss..." Emmett, Rosalie, Alice & Jasper chanted out loud, earning stares from others.

Edward held my face in his hands, making me look into his dreamy green eyes. I could feel his breath getting closer to mine and I closed my eyes at the same time as he did.

The electric currents that ran through my skin was nothing compared to the sparks that flew when our lips touched. His lips were soft and moulded against mine perfectly. The kiss grew deeper and my hands found their way to Edward's messy bronze hair, my fingers twirling around the strands.

A loud applause replaced the chants from the table of my friends and they were wolf-whistling and shouting at us to get a room. I smiled at that against Edward's lips before pulling away.

"Kissing under the mistletoe is so horrendously cliché." I whispered under my breath as I looked into Edward's eyes when they fluttered open.

He smiled crookedly. "Touché."

He pulled me in for another irresistible kiss that might have lasted for a long time since my friends stopped cheering and went back to doing what they were doing. I didn't care, really. This was a perfect moment. This was our perfect moment.

Two clicks of the Polaroid camera couldn't even make us pull away as Leah quickly grabbed a picture of our mistletoe moment.

I could hear the sound of snow finally falling to the ground outside, and it came at the right time.


End file.
